Francis Hopkinson

Francis Hopkinson was born in 1737 in Philadelphia, was the first student to enter the College of Philadelphia, and became a lawyer, writer, and musician. He moved to New Jersey, sat in the Continental Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. During the war he wrote satires and songs that made the patriot cause vivid for ordinary readers, including The Battle of the Kegs. He later claimed to have designed the American flag, and Congress did pay him for other official designs, including work on the great seal; the flag claim itself is still disputed by historians, and it should not be treated as settled fact. After independence Hopkinson served as a federal judge in Pennsylvania. He died in Philadelphia in 1791. His life is a reminder that the founding generation included artists as well as soldiers and lawyers.

See also: Signers of the Declaration · Richard Stockton · John Witherspoon · John Hart · Abraham Clark